The Black Diamond Princess
by TheAngryOrchard
Summary: Modern AU Anna was invited to her cousin Kristoff's cabin on the North Mountain for the winter. Anna hadn't visited her cousin in almost 10 years, and she was excited to learn to ski at the huge ski resort not far from his house. What she didn't expect was to form a crush on her instructor. Can Anna deal with these new feelings? Elsanna non incest lots of fluf For Anna week!
1. Day 1 Part 1

**A/N Hey all!**

**If you don't follow tumblr, it's Anna week, yaaaay! Since I have zero artistic ability and can't provide fanart that doesn't look like a four year old drew it, I'm gonna try to slam out a new story based around the lady of the hour! As Cold As Ice won't be updating this week as I try to get this story out as fast as possible, or at least build a buffer so I can work on both! I'm not saying expect a chapter every day but I'm hoping to have one at least every other day!**

**For anyone who doesn't know ski/snowboarding terms, most if not all will be explained as the story goes. It might not be right after, but it will be before the chapters done.**

**Everyone, enjoy The Black Diamond Princess!**

* * *

Three hours...

It's been three long hours riding in the back seat of a car, her cousin Kristoff in the passenger seat and her uncle driving. Anna was going to visit her cousins for the winter and stay in their cabin on North Mountain. She did not dislike her family, but there is only so much one person can take of staring out a window and the radio droning on with uncle Oaken's polka music. Anna was trying to focus as best she could on the game she was playing on her phone. She had just leveled up her castle for the ninth time and she let out a sigh. Uncle Oaken spoke gently through his thick accent, "not far now, when we get to the cabin, we'll have small lunch to give good feelings, ya?" He then started humming along to the polka music.

Her cousin Kristoff had been bouncing around the car in excitement for almost the entire trip causing his short blonde hair to come in and out of view, "I can't wait till we get to the cabin!", he spun around, grabbed Anna's arm, and shook her hard enough that the two braids in her bright red hair jumped from side to side. "You've never been skiing have you? The resort near the house gives lessons and when you're done we can go skiing together!"

Anna put her phone down, "I doubt I'll be ready to go up with you after my first day, but I'm really excited to try something new!" Anna was buzzing with excitement, every time when she was a kid and she went up to see her uncles she had an amazing time. It had been ten years since she got to spend so much time with her cousins, and Anna was always too young before to go out with her older cousin on the trails. "Is it hard to control the skis?", Anna asks.

"Nah, It's easy once you get the hang of it. You might take a spill or two before you really get used to it, but it is all part of the learning process!", Kristoff laughs and smiles warmly at Anna.

Anna was still very excited, but a bit of worry now clouded her mind, "have you ever hurt yourself?"

Kristoff let out another loud laugh, "Naw, I've got a thick skull!" He rapped a knuckle against the top of his head, "trust me, the teachers at the resort taught me back when it first opened, and I'm doing runs on the second hardest track now. That was years ago, and it's only gotten better since then!"

This put some of Anna's worries to rest, she settled back into her seat and muttered, "good."

* * *

Another hour later, they had arrived at the house. After a lot of hugs and greetings from her other uncle, the rest of her cousins, and the family dog, they had a fast lunch, and Kristoff was dragging her out of the house. He grabbed his skis, tossed them in the back of his old beat up truck, and off they went down the road. Anna dressed for the cold weather, while still trying to look good, "just in case", she told herself. Her purple coat and hood over her black windbreaker over her light blue shirt was just what she needed to keep the cold out. Kristoff however did not really care what he looked like, his black thermals visible from under his fur-lined black and red jacket. They pulled up to the Arendelle Ski Lodge after just a few minutes in the car. "Wow, it's gigantic! Bigger than I remember", Anna stared in amazement.

"You coming?", Kristoff was already out of the car with his skis in hand.

Anna jumped out of the car and felt the chill on the back of her neck. She shivered as she pulled up her hood, "cold, cold, cold, cold, cold", the temperature seemed to have dropped even more between the cabin and the lodge.

Kristoff guffawed, "just wait till we're actually out there!" He put his arm around his cousin and pulled her along, "first thing's first, let's get you fitted for your rentals!"

They hurried into the lodge where Kristoff pushed Anna towards a desk, "sup, Olaf! We got a newbie that needs fitting and lessons."

A pale teenager looked up, "Hello there, you're Kristoff's cousin! He's done nothing but brag about how you're gonna be shredding circles around us before you leave for weeks now."

Kristoff gave the kid a weird handshake, "when do you get off, I can't wait to get in some time on the mountain with you and Hans?"

"I'm off at four, Hans is on fitting today, ask him when you get there", Olaf responded. He keyed a few things into the computer, and after a moment he handed two cards to Anna and Kristoff, "here are your lift tickets", and a second card to Anna, "and this is for your lessons. Don't worry I gave you a good instructor."

Kristoff howled with laughter and shouted as he dragged Anna away, "You better have! I want her up there with us before the end of the winter!"

Olaf gave a goofy smile with a wink and a point, then disappeared as they rounded the corner and down a long hallway.

Stunned by how fast everything was happening, Anna could not keep up, "wait, what just happened? Who was that?"

Kristoff explained as he pulled her along, "that was Olaf, I'm pretty sure you two met years and years ago but you were still a kid so it makes sense why you don't remember. You just got your rental card and lift ticket from him, they are exactly what they sound like. The rental card we give to Hans to get your skis and the lift ticket lets you get on the chair lift up the mountain." He pushed her forward towards another counter, "Hans!"

A kid around Kristoff's age turns around, his bright red bushy sideburns were the first thing Anna noticed. "Kristoff, bro! Took you long enough to get here, half the people are already outside. So this is Anna", he turned his attention to her. "First time I hear. Are you nervous?"

"Not really", Anna explained, "I hear the instructors here are really good, so I'm hoping to learn quick so that I can join you guys up top soon!"

"Well, all right then, let me get your rental card and you two can get out there", Hans held out his hand and gave Anna a charming smile.

Kristoff took the card out of Anna's hand and shoved it into Han's, "watch it man, that's my cousin, not one of your snow bunnies."

Han's shot Kristoff a serious look before turning and walking into the back to get the rental. Their moment lasted only a second, Kristoff called into the racks of skis and snowboards, "What time are you off, man?"

Anna looked around while the two chatted. She was watching the people go in and out, couples walking hand in hand, snow gear everywhere. She then saw something that caught her breath, a girl in a light blue glittering jacket, matching pants, carrying skis over her shoulder, and a snowboard under her arm. The snowboard was an impossible blue, with an intricate snowflake right in the center. She was wearing goggles over her eyes, and her long blonde hair tossed to the side in a large braid, also adorned with snowflake hair ties to keep it set in place. Anna's eyes followed the girl as she walked by, in what seemed like slow motion.

"ANNA!", Kristoff boomed, pulling her back to earth.

Pulled out of her daydream, Anna looks back dazed, "wait, what?"

Kristoff huffed, "pay attention I want to get out on the slopes! Hans asked what shoe size you are."

"Seven", she responded quickly before she glanced back, but the girl was gone. Disappointed, Anna turned back just in time for a giant board to be shoved in her face.

"Here we go!", Hans had two boots on the counter and a bright green snowboard lifted just over Anna's head, it was bigger than she was. Before she could say anything, Hans had let the snowboard start to fall towards Anna who jumped to the side and caught it.

"Damn it Hans! It was skis, not a snowboard", Kristoff grunted, "come on bro, you're letting everyone else get to the fresh powder before m-"

"I'll take this", Anna interrupted, the light blue board from before sticking out in her head. "I... I want to try snowboarding instead." She let out a nervous giggle, "I figure if I get this down, you can teach me how to ski after Kristoff."

Kristoff was fine with not wasting any more time getting to the slopes. He gave Hans the same handshake he gave Olaf, helped Anna get all her gear on, and they started towards the door.

* * *

They exited the building and Anna shielded her eyes from the brightness. The snow was so white, and the sun reflected off it right into her face no matter where she looked. The mountain was full of people. There were groups of people standing around talking, people sitting in a circle around a fire laughing, and people just having a good time everywhere. Her eyes quickly adjusted and Kristoff pulled his hat over his head. He took in a big breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth. Anna awkwardly carried her new snowboard. She, unsuccessfully, tried her best not to let it scrape the ground or hit into anyone. A breeze blew by and Anna shivered a bit.

"Told you it gets even colder when you get out here", Kristoff chuckled. He gave her a big pat on the shoulder, "Don't worry once you get moving you'll warm right up! Now then, where do we go for your lessons, they changed everything around after they put in that new terrain park a few years ago?"

Anna almost dropped her over sized board and began gazing into the distance, again distracted by the people bustling around. She see's the top to a red tent in the distance, the word 'LESSONS' written in white across it. "Over there!" She tried to run towards the tent but once again her board got in the way and she nearly toppled over.

Kristoff grabbed her before she went down, "now that I actually look at this board, it looks way too big for you. I don't know much about snowboarding, but if you want we can go get a smaller one from Hans."

She could see the way he was longing to get up the mountain in his eyes, "no, it's fine. I'm sure Hans knows what he's doing. I'm just clumsy, you know that." She corrected herself, beams a smile at Kristoff, and holds the snowboard across her chest to give herself more control.

"Alright, if you say so", he was not going to argue as he tried to keep his excitement in check. They walked over to the lessons tent and he eagerly took his leave, "okay, this is where I'm gonna leave you. Lessons normally take two hours here and they put you in a group. I'm gonna go take a couple of runs while you learn."

Anna playfully pouted her response, "so we make it up here and you're already ditching me?" She folded her arms across her chest and dramatically chastised her cousin, "fine! Leave me be!"

Kristoff gave her a stale stare, "ha, ha", he droned mockingly. "Alright feisty-pants, do you want me to stay till you get into the lesson?"

Met by an actual laugh this time Anna continued, "no really, I'll be fine. I just wanted to give you a hard time."

The smile returned to Kristoff's face, "okay, if you need me give me a text. The service isn't amazing up top, so I'll get it when I get closer to the bottom", and he departed.

Anna turned and walked into the tent. There were a few people off to either side talking among themselves, and one shorter older man in the middle leaning over some paperwork. "Um, excuse me", she greeted the smaller man, "I think this is where I need to be. I just got some lessons a little while ago, my name is Anna."

The man quickly peers at her for a moment, before lifting his head and looking through his large circular glasses and down his long nose at her. "I am Duke."

"Oh... okay?", Anna hesitated, "are you the instructor?"

"Heavens no! I just organize the lessons, now let me see here", he glances down at his paperwork and quickly pulls his face back up. "Looks like that Olaf boy got you in the next snowboarding class at the last-minute. You can stand outside the tent, your group will be heading out in fifteen minutes."

Anna nodded and walked out of the tent, two people were off to the side, waiting as well, both already had one foot strapped into their boards. They didn't look like they were very good, but looked like they knew what they were doing at least. Anna stood back, a bit intimidated, and wished she had asked Kristoff to stay. Instead of trying to talk to them she looked down the path a bit, "oh wow, so that's what Kristoff meant about the terrain park." There was a large designated area with rails, a half-pipe, and all sorts of different jumps. She was gawking at the people playing around on the equipment. One person in particular grabbed her attention and didn't let go, it was the girl from before! She was on the half-pipe doing all sorts of spins and grabs on her board each time she launched off the sides. Anna was in awe, her mouth wide open. Anna was watching every move, every turn, every angle, and each time the boarder flew into the air, Anna's heart leapt along with her. Every motion was elegant, the girl in blue had grace and poise with every twist and jump. Anna barely heard the sound of her board his the ground, it was even a few minutes before she realized she dropped it. Anna became infatuated with watching this girl, with her dignified demeanor, her energetic playfulness. She finally closed her mouth, and it formed a dopey grin.

After a few minutes of watching, the girl came up, hopped up on the side of the pipe, and started talking to one of the employees before unstrapping and walking off. Anna frowned and said a silent prayer to see her on the slopes or in the lodge later on. "All right everyone", a serious looking man with a large mustache that connected to his sideburns interrupts Anna's prayer, "it's time for your lesson, follow me." The two people in front of her began pushing off with their free foot and glided past the man, "what's wrong? Are you not in this group?" Anna scrambled quickly to pick up her board and hobbled down after the two others. "Just follow them, they know where to go", the man called after Anna.

This made Anna feel worse. She stumbled down the path past the terrain park, where she quickly glanced to see if the blue snowboarder was there. She gave up after only a few moments, since she didn't want to slow the other two down. The two she was following turned into a small starter area on the opposite side of the park. Anna tried her best to keep up without falling over.

The female instructors voice came from around the bend, "oh, I thought they added a third person for today."

Anna hurried and turned the corner as fast as she could, lost her footing, and finally fell on her rear as her board flew ahead of her, kicking snow up into her face. "Ow", she wiped the snow away from her face with one hand and rubbed her sore rear with the other.

"Ah ha, looks like we have our third disciple after all", the instructor cheered from behind Anna.

Anna looked over her shoulder to place the voice after rubbing all the snow from her eyes. Her heart nearly stopped and a lump formed in her throat, the voice belonged to the blue snowboarder.

She was standing right in front of her, one hand on her knee and the other offered to Anna to help her up. Her goggles were resting on her head, and when Anna looked in her eyes, they were so blue that the rest of her outfit looked dull in comparison. "Hello there", the girl greeted Anna in a warm voice, "I'm Elsa and I will be your snowboarding teacher!"


	2. Day 1 Part 2

**A/N EDIT! sorry about a mix up in this chapter at the end doesn't like anyone using a less than sign even if you type it in HTML:(**

* * *

Anna stared up at Elsa with wide eyes, the blonde smirked at this and let out a bit of a giggle. Anna's cheeks began to grow hot as the blush spread across her face. She bit her bottom lip, looked down, and grabbed the girl's hand. "I assume you're Anna?" She put her hand on her shoulder, "don't worry, before we're done you'll be just as good as anyone else here!"

Anna's stomach was doing flips, she wished she had brought a scarf to cover up how flustered she was. "T-thank you", she managed to stutter out. She then quickly went to collect her snowboard from down the way.

Elsa turned to talk to the other two people while Anna raced to pick up her board. Her heart was racing, the butterflies in her stomach felt more like Elsa spinning and twisting in there. She never felt like this before, she grabbed her board, took a deep breath, and tried to steady her nerves. Anna gave herself a quick pep talk, "okay, so the girl you thought was amazing and beautiful and awesome is your instructor. She is also totally cool and calm and pretty. You can handle this Anna." She paused for a moment, "but this is strange and new and weird. What if she thinks you're a ditz or a flake or just stupid. You're rambling Anna, stop over thinking and just let whatever is going to happen, happen." She stopped herself and turned back towards the group. The other two people finished strapping in, pushed off towards a small slope, and Elsa waved for Anna to come back. She took one more deep breath and began her trek back to the others.

Elsa folded her hands together as Anna approached, "Okay, I cleared it with the others. They are on the last lesson they need, so we're going to go to the bunny hill. We can work at the bottom, while I watch those two at the top. How does that sound?"

The lump in Anna's throat almost choked her when she tried to speak, but she managed to force out, "that sounds great".

Elsa picked up her snowboard, tucked it under her arm, and walked with Anna. "So is this your first time up here?"

Anna tried to speak, but her nerves were not making it easy. "Well, no, but yes, I mean, I used to come up here all the time when I was little. I would visit my cousin every winter, but it's been almost ten years since last time I came to see them for more than just a day visit. This winter is the first time since I was nine that I actually had time to stay." Her mind was in overdrive, the words were just coming out as soon as they popped into her head, "this is the first time I am up here, here though. Like on the ski resort. It's awesome though, I love how bright it is, and everyone's been pretty nice so far." Anna had to physically stop herself from talking. She covered her mouth with her hand, closed her eyes, and took another deep breath. When she opened her eyes, Elsa was giggling a bit. Anna blushed, "Sorry, I talk when I'm nervous."

"Don't be nervous, I'll do my best to make sure you don't get hurt", Elsa comforted her with a hand on her arm.

Anna's let out a giggle as her face curled into a gigantic grin when Elsa touched her. "I really liked your tricks before, I mean you were awesome on the slopes over there.", she motioned towards the half-pipe.

"Oh... you were watching that?" Elsa started to drag her feet a little and fell behind a step or two. "And you were watching the entire time?"

Anna let her excitement take hold of her. She turned around and walked backwards, "yeah, it was great! You were spinning around and launching off the sides like it was easy. I hope, one day, I can be half as good as you."

Elsa let her eyes stray from Anna and her head tilted slightly towards the ground, "It's nothing special, I've just had a lot of time to practice." She fidgeted with her board pulling it in front of her letting her hands fold together.

Anna gushed more, "but it was! You are probably the best person on the entire mountain!" Anna's face went red thinking about how that could be taken, then her blush darkened as she realized how she meant it.

Elsa's pale skin lit up as well, a smile crept across her face and she began to look up at Anna. Her expression changed from reserved careful happiness to a serious protective determination. She dropped her board and yelled, "watch out!" She pulled Anna back as a rogue skier just missed colliding into her.

Anna let go of her board, shut her eyes, and instinctively put her arms out as the two fell to the ground. They hit the cold icy snow fairly hard and Anna kept her eyes closed for a second. When they finally opened, she realized her face was inches away from Elsa's. Both girls enjoyed letting their eyes dance with the others, and Anna was lost in the icy blue of the beautiful winter storm of Elsa's eyes. Anna felt a rush of heat burn across her face and down her body. For a second, she worried she would melt the snow around them.

Elsa was enjoying the view just as much as Anna, but regained her voice first. Her blush spread just as rapidly as Anna's, a sheepish smile bloomed on her face, and then accidentally cooed, "Are you okay?"

She kick started Anna's mind back to a functioning state. She started to pull back and climb off the girl below her, "No, no, I mean yes! I just wasn't looking where I was going, but I'm fine, really", she sat back on her knees giving her teacher room to sit up.

"Hey", a woman's voice called from a bit away, "stop milking it and get up, you two are fine."

The calm winter storm in Elsa's eyes grew fierce, her head whipped around, "you can control your carving enough so that shouldn't have happened! Keep moving Marsh, or perhaps you can't handle your new job."

The girl just shrugged, and in a very sarcastic tone scoffs, "oh no, it was an accident, please don't get me in trouble." She then skied off snickering to herself.

"Who was that?", Anna asked as she hopped to her feet and offered a hand to Elsa.

Elsa calmed down, took her hand, and replied as Anna pulled her up, "that was Marsh. She is one of the new instructors here. She used to work down in the rental area, but recently got promoted", she finished her thought under her breath, "against better judgement."

Anna picked up Elsa's board and handed it to her, "she seems like a jerk. I'm glad I got someone like you as my teacher!"

Elsa took the board and smiled, "Alright then, I owe you a lesson, don't I?"

* * *

The two set up off to the side, near the bottom of a small slope. Elsa looked up at her other two trainee's and gave them a thumbs up. They began coming down the mountain as Anna began trying to strap in her boots. Elsa watched the others for a few moments before calling up to them about keeping their knees bent and the way they were turning their bodies. Anna, still failing at strapping in her boots, let herself fall onto the ground.

Elsa turned around, looked down at her, and giggled a bit, "before you strap in we have to find out if you are regular or goofy."

"Hey!", Anna protested with a pout.

Elsa laughed, "not like that! It only means which is your dominant foot. If you ride regular your left foot is in front, where as goofy will have your right."

"Well, I'm left-handed, does that mean anything?"

She laughed again, "if only it was that easy. There is an easy surefire way to figure it out though. Just keep looking forward", Elsa started circling, Anna looking at her out of the corner of her eye the entire time.

Anna followed her till she slipped out of her peripheral vision. She felt Elsa behind her, and after a good twenty seconds of waiting, she turned her head, "Elsa?" It was only for a second, but Anna was sure Elsa was looking at her butt. Elsa then shoved Anna forward, "Hey!"

"Look at your feet", Elsa pointed out. Anna looked down her right foot had jumped out to catch her balance. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you're goofy", she joked.

"Ha, ha", Anna retorted dryly.

"If I said you were regular, I'd be lying to you", Elsa flirted with a wink.

The double meaning was not lost to Anna, she blushed as her heart pounded in her chest. At first, she gazed into Elsa's eyes and her confidence radiated from her. The longer she looked though, they slowly showed how far out of her comfort zone Elsa had stepped. The innocence and shyness in her eyes were painfully obvious after only a minute, and Elsa began to bite the inside of her lip fearing for the worst. To break the silence, Anna chimed, "then I guess you ride goofy as well then." The edges of her mouth rising as she speaks.

That small gesture was more comforting to her than Anna knew. She tried to hide how happy this made her by looking back at the other two who were almost completely down the slope now. The way she played with her hair though was more than enough to let Anna know how nervous she was. After she recomposed herself, Elsa turned back around. "Okay, now let's get you strapped i-", she cut herself off as she stared at the board at Anna's feet.

"What's wrong?", Anna worried.

Elsa grabbed the bridge of her nose, "who gave you that board?"

"I rented it, Hans gave it to me."

She let out a sigh, "I'm gonna kill him... This board is way too big for you. Sorry it took me this long to notice, I wasn't really looking at your snowboard", Elsa's eyes widened when she reluctantly finished her sentence.

Anna shuffled nervously, trying not to get too flustered at Elsa's accidental confession. "Oh, I guess he made a mistake cause they were originally supposed to give me skis anyway", Anna rationalized trying to move the conversation along.

"Wait, skis?" Elsa questioned.

"Yea my rental was for skis but they gave me a snowboard instead", Anna answered.

Elsa swore under her breath and fumed to herself, "always trying to screw with people."

The volume of her voice was something Elsa didn't quite keep in check. "Sorry, it's just Hans is notorious for giving people the wrong boards by accident", she made finger quotes in the air with the last word of her sentence. "He can just be a handful sometimes", Elsa tried her best to not be anymore unprofessional than she had already been. "Tell you what, if you are careful, I'll let you use mine", Elsa pointed behind her at her snowboard, "it's more of a freestyle board than a freeride one, but that just means it's more for tricks and jumps than cruising down a mountain. I wouldn't worry too much though, since we are not moving too far. Today is just to get used to being on the board."

The way Anna's mouth hung open showed just how astonished she was by this offer. "I'm not sure I should, what if something happens?"

A devious smirk flashed across Elsa's face for a second as a similarly devious thought shot through her mind, "oh, I wouldn't worry about it. Nothing we are doing today is intense enough to even come close to hurting my board." Elsa scoops up her board, quickly changes the bindings on the boards, and drops it in front of Anna, "okay put your foot here and I'll show you how to strap in." Anna did as she told her to, and once she finished and stood up, she asked, "they should be tight but not too tight. How does it feel?"

Anna tried to move her feet to check her bindings and instantly fell forward into Elsa's arms, "oh, uh, hi", fell out of her mouth.

"I told you before, I'd do my best to protect you", Elsa's expression was kind and caring. They caught each others glances, and both felt their stomachs flutter.

They both were in a place they hadn't been before and were just enjoying each other. Nothing at that moment mattered to them, the rest of the world faded away as they both were swept up in the storm.

* * *

The lesson continued with Elsa showing Anna the ropes of snowboarding. Simple things like balancing and moving came quickly to Anna, but when it came to stopping and turning, she had some difficulty. The lesson continued on as the day progressed. The two others in the group felt confident enough to not need Elsa's supervision and went off with their friends, leaving Elsa and Anna alone. They had a great time, Anna told Elsa about herself, how she was visiting her cousin Kristoff for the winter, how her uncle used polka music to try to make her so bored she died on the way here, and how Kristoff and she wouldn't know how to size someone up for a snowboard to save their lives. They laughed with each other, Elsa more so than Anna since when she jerked from one side to the other too quickly in an attempt to adjust her balance, she would end up on her rear every time. Elsa listened more than she talked, but told Anna she grew up here, that she loved the winter and anything snow related, and thought it was 'cute' when Anna caught herself in a nervous ramble. They flirted here and there, Anna would pretend to have trouble strapping in and would bend over for long periods of time giving Elsa a clear view. Each time this happened, Anna would stand back up, glance at Elsa, whose head would be turned away but would be staring out of the corner of her eye.

Time passed so quickly, the girls didn't even notice. Before long, it started to get dark. It was right before twilight when Elsa finally realized just how long they had been together. "Oh no...", she threw her hand in her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Oh god, they are going to kill me."

"What's the matter?" Anna asked, practicing gliding back and forth on the snowboard.

Cupping her face in her hand, Elsa answers reluctantly, "our two-hour lesson lasted about five."

"What!", Anna shouted, quickly grabbing at her own pocket pulling out her phone. In their time together, Anna missed 5 text messages and 4 calls from Kristoff. She joined Elsa in covering her face with her hand. "Oh man, I'm so sorry. You don't think you'll get in too much trouble do you? What if they yell at you? Or worse, what if they fire you? Oh Elsa, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to get you in trouble. I just-"

"Whoa, Whoa, calm yourself down there Snowflake. They aren't going to fire me, trust me on that", Elsa looked up from her phone. Her icy blue eyes still swirled with affection and threatened to suck Anna in when ever she looked at them. She wrapped her hands around herself and stuttered softly, "I, uh, I had fun today."

Anna beamed, "I did too, you are a great teacher! When are you here again? I'd love to take another lesson with you", Anna started fumbling with her jacket zipper.

Both girls were equally confused about how they felt about one another. They had just spent the entire afternoon flirting and having fun, and it was clear neither of them wanted it to end.

Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but Anna's phone exploded into sound and cut her off. Kristoff was calling once again.

Anna thought for a second, she actually debated if one more missed call would hurt and sighed, "damn it, one second, Elsa." She accepted the call, "hello?"

"Where the hell have you been!?", Kristoff began to flip out over the phone. "Two hours after the class I came back down to wait for you and the short guy at the booth said your group wasn't back yet. I waited for 30 minutes then sent you a text to call me when you finished. I hung out with Hans and Olaf for a few more hours before I started calling and texting again. Where the hell are you? I have been to the training booth three times now and no one knows where you are. Hans left a little while ago and Olaf has helped me look all over the training area, I was damn near ready to call the police!"

"I know", Anna tried to calm her cousin down as she took the bindings off her feet, "I know, I should have texted earlier, but I was with the instructor the entire time. We just lost track of time!"

Kristoff didn't lose any momentum, "you've been here less than a day! Do you know how worried Dad would have been if I already lost you? We're ready to go, come to the lodge so we can turn back in your board or we're going to miss dinner." Kristoff jumped between relief and worry through his rant.

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes", and Anna hung up the phone. She turned to Elsa, "I made Kristoff worry", she said with a frown.

Elsa frowned as well, "I'm sorry Anna, I should have kept better track of the time."

"It's okay, I'd still do it all over again", Anna confessed.

Impressed by her boldness, Elsa gave a lopsided smile back, "yeah, me too." Anna ran up to her and grabbed her phone, "Hey!", Elsa yelled.

Anna's hand flew across the keys on the phone. After a few seconds, Anna returned the phone, "here!" Elsa looked down and saw a new contact name in the address book, 'Anna'. "Text me tonight, if you're working tomorrow maybe we can have another lesson... one that doesn't last for six hours and gets us both in trouble", she smirked.

"And if I not?", Elsa responded hesitantly.

Anna's enormous smile didn't falter, "text me anyway and we can hang out, if you want. you can meet my cousin." Anna summoned the last of her courage to give Elsa a warm hug, "Thanks for a great day! I really hope you decide to text me."

Elsa's heart was beating so hard, Anna could have probably felt it if her's wasn't pounding away at the same speed. Anna handed Elsa her board, scooped up her's, gave a little wave and smile, and dashed off to meet Kristoff.

* * *

After a lot of explaining, apologizing, and vowing to never disappear like that again, Kristoff forgave her. Anna and her cousin raced home just in time to make it inside for dinner. Her family had a huge dining room and her uncles were phenomenal cooks, even though Uncle Oalken used these weird little fish in everything he made. After dinner, a shower, and some time with her family, Anna was feeling tired and sore from all the falling she did that day. After she crawled into bed, a few minutes later she heard her phone receive a text. She scrambled to grab and unlock her phone.

'Hey, it's Elsa'

Anna's heart skipped a beat when she read the message.

'Sorry if I'm texting too late'

'Just wanted to let you know, I am working tomorrow and if you come by for a lesson around three o'clock it will just be me and you'

'not that, that means anything'

'just figured we had so much fun today just the two of us we could do it again'

'I'm going to stop texting now, you're probably asleep'

The smile on Anna's face grew wider and wider with each message, "she is so much less graceful in text's it's kinda cute." Anna instantly blushed and bit her lip, not sure what these new feelings were inside her. She looked down at her phone, and texted Elsa back.

'Hey! Three sounds great, I can't wait!'

She hesitated, and mustered all of her confidence.

'And don't worry it's not too late, I wasn't asleep and even if I was I wouldn't mind getting a message from you when I wake up :)'

Anna felt great about everything that happened. She saved Elsa's number to her phone, typed in 'Elsa', and let the tiniest smile creep across her face. She went back into the contact, added a heart to the end of her name, smiled, and promptly fell asleep with the phone still in her hand.


	3. Day 2

Anna awoke the next morning to Kristoff calling her down for breakfast. She sat up, propped up her head on her hand, made a affirming sound, and started to doze back to sleep. Her hand slipped and she shocked herself back out of her slumber. After a big stretch for her still sore muscles, she began to think about the day before. Anna thought about Elsa, and pictured her face... then her hair... then her body. Anna's brain kicked back in at this point and stopped her hormones from taking over.

Everything she felt about this was new to her. Her infatuation with Elsa wasn't something she had dealt with before. She knew it inside, but was just not ready to say it out loud. Clearly, no one was going to judge her for this seeing as she had two uncles, but the emotions swirling around in her head and her heart scared her. She was both thrilled and incredibly nervous to see Elsa again. After some quiet contemplation, she decided to deal with each emotion she had that day as it came.

She got up, absentmindedly grabbed her phone, and trudged downstairs. She dodged some of her cousins that were chasing each other out of the kitchen, and greeted her uncle and her cousin, Kristoff.

"Good morning", Anna yawned.

Kristoff looked up from his plate of pancakes and began to snicker, "good morning to you, too."

"Huh?", Anna muttered drowsily as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"oh dear", her uncle put a hand up to his mouth as he placed a plate on the table for her.

As soon as she sat down, she looked around at the two staring men. They gawked not at her face but higher. Her hair was shooting in all different directions out of the bee's nest that formed at the top. As the realization set in, her lips pursed and she grumbled, "we all can't have hair that looks the same if we brush it or not..."

Her uncle placed an enormous stack of pancakes on her plate, "that is no good! I use a hair product of my own invention every day, you would like to try some, ya?"

She hesitated a moment, her mind flashing back to the fish her uncle used in everything, "thanks Uncle Oaken, but I just need to brush it." Her mind now fell to the pancakes in front of her, still thinking of the fish. Slowly, she cut herself a piece and popped it in her mouth. No fishy taste, something better, "mmmm, chocolate!"

"Yes, I made chocolate chip pancakes. I remembered how much you loved them as a kid", he turned back to the stove to continue his cooking.

Kristoff scoffed as Anna started on her stack of pancakes, "why don't I get chocolate?"

"You always loved carrot pancakes", his father retorted not even turning around, "even if half end up in Sven's dish." The man motioned to the dog under the table, who chewed loudly on the pancake Kristoff slipped him moments ago.

"Well, they are his favorite as well", Kristoff laughed. He reached under the table to give the dog another bite off his fork, then put the rest right into his mouth.

Anna started disgustedly at this for a moment before continuing to eat her own stack. "These are great! I love chocolate so much!"

"No a problem, dear", her uncle sang, "so what are you two planning today?"

Anna swallowed quickly and realized she never cleared going back to the lodge with her cousin. "Oh, uh, well, I was wondering if Kristoff would want to go back to the park again. I want to get another lesson so I can get better!"

Kristoff almost choked on the entire pancake he shoved in his mouth. He nearly swallowed it whole and gave her a look of disbelief, "after yesterday, you want to go back? I'm not sure I can survive another day like that."

"Oh?", Oaken finally turned from the stove, "what happened yesterday?"

Anna knew Kristoff wasn't someone to hold a grudge and let everything go rather easily, so if she pushed she wouldn't have to disappoint Elsa. "Well, I went out for my lessons and the instructor lost track of time. I made Kristoff worry, but the teacher offered me another lesson today to make up for the inconvenience."

"Wonderful!", her uncle clapped, "keep up the hard work and you might be better than Kristoff one day." He rubbed his son's hair teasingly.

Kristoff eyed Anna warily, "okay, but this time I want to know where you are. You're a big girl, but if you do go off again, I don't mind, just let me know!"

A sense of excitement shot through Anna. She didn't want to admit it, but the thought of seeing Elsa again made her elated. She tried to play it cool, and was mostly successful at not garnering any second thoughts.

"Just remember you, two the next week is my late nights at work", her uncle let out a large sigh. He the leaned into Anna and fake whispered, loud enough for Kristoff to hear it, "Uncle Pabbie is taking care of the others tonight, maybe if you ask him, Kristoff will bring his favorite cousin for a nice meal out!"

Kristoff rolled his eyes and laughed a bit before shoving another pancake into his mouth.

Anna and Kristoff finished their pancakes, thanked her uncle for the meal again, and cleared their plates.

* * *

The rest of the morning was fairly uneventful. She spent it playing with her younger cousins and talking with her uncles and Kristoff. She was very wary of the time however, making sure she had plenty to get ready. She tried to make herself look as cute as possible, while still keeping enough layers on to bear the bitter cold. The entire time she was preparing herself to see Elsa again her stomach was both doing flips as well as tying itself in knots. The excitement and anticipation of a new relationship shot through her, quickly followed by crushing doubt. She not only worried about if Elsa felt the same, but she was struggling to make sense of her own emotions. The terrified girl glowering back at her from the mirror almost deterred her from doing her best to look on the bright side. She looked fantastic and gave a twirl in the mirror. She was happy with how her clothes and hair showed her off, but stopped before she reached, as she described it, "trying too hard status". Making sure she was ready to go before it even hit two o'clock, she dragged Kristoff out the door and almost tore his arm off in the process. Kristoff drove at a normal speed, and it was all Anna could do not to scream at him to go faster. Her altered state went unmentioned by her cousin, but not unnoticed as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. When they arrived at the lodge, the car had not finished stopping before her door was open and she'd jumped out.

"Come on, come on, I have to get my rental before my lesson", Anna shouted to Kristoff who was still getting his gear out of the back of his truck.

"Calm down, it's barely two-thirty and Hans is working again so we will get you rental in no time", Kristoff called back, pulling the last of his belongings from the car. "Why are you getting so worked up over this? You've acted strange since you brought up coming back this morning."

Before she could think, she just blurted out, "I couldn't help it, I was just too excited."

Kristoff knew her just as well as she knew him, he caught her off guard and her mouth acted faster than her head. "Oh really?", he quipped smugly, "and what exactly were you so excited about?"

This stopped Anna in her tracks as her mind caught up to the conversation, "I, uh-", she hesitated, her thoughts tried to find a way to salvage the situation.

"Listen", Kristoff comforted her, "I'm not dumb. It's been years but you are still the same little girl who ran after all of the other snowboarders". He caught up and looked down at her, "I won't ask, but if you are crushing on one of the boys, let me know. I know most of them so I can help you", he laughed and rubbed her hair through her hat.

She jumped back, trying to avoid having her hair messed up, but stumbled and fell back. "I am NOT crushing on one of the boys up here", she pouted, putting a lot of emphasis on the word boys. "The only one who has even been nice to me so far is Hans, anyway", Elsa shot into her head and she turned her head away from Kristoff to hide her embarrassment. She didn't want to lie but she didn't have any feelings for the boys up on the mountain.

"Okay, okay", Kristoff put his hands up in surrender. "Just promise me that it's not Hans. He is my friend, but he's also a real asshole sometimes. He's got a reputation of dating and dropping." He offered her his hand, "considering how yesterday went, how excited you were for this lesson, and the fact that you dressed the part, I would guess it was one of the members in your group."

The fire burned in her cheeks as she grabbed his hands, head still turned away from him, "I am not dressed any different, and this is far from not asking me about it."

He hoisted her up, the sarcasm in his tone was painfully obvious, "alright, if you say so". He opened the door to the lodge, "just be careful, I know how impulsive you are."

She walked through the door and at the front desk sat Hans. She waved to him only to get a half-hearted wave back. "What's up Hans?", Anna smiled warmly.

Kristoff stared quizzically at him, "thought you were on rentals today. What happened?"

"I got in trouble for giving out the wrong equipment again", he scoffed. He gave Anna a quick, cold glance, "the owners got annoyed cause some girl got the wrong board and their kid bitched up a storm."

"Hey!", someone called from behind them. Olaf walked up and gave Kristoff a high-five and Anna a big hug. "Hey Kristoff, you ready to go?"

"Yeah man, just gotta get our lift tickets, get Anna her rental, and drop her at the lessons tent", he flashed a smile in Anna's direction. "Hans what time are you off today? Wanna meet us up there after you're done in purgatory?", Kristoff laughed.

Hans' face remained stoic as he punched some keys into the computer, "I'm front desk all day. Won't get off till probably after you're done", he shoved two lift tickets at the pair.

The three walked away, and right before turning the corner for rentals Anna glanced back. Hans had his arms folded, and a pout on his face. She stifled a giggle and hoped the boys didn't notice.

* * *

The rental went incredibly smoothly this time, even without Hans pushing them through. Anna's snowboard was blue and not so large she couldn't carry it. They made their way out of the lodge and into the cold. Ready for it this time, her clothes were incredibly warm, as well as stylish. Anna tried to bid farewell to Kristoff and Olaf, but her cousin had better ideas.

"I was such a terrible cousin yesterday, I will wait with you this time", Kristoff smirked. He and Olaf walked Anna to the tent. They waited outside and she walked in.

The same man from the day before stood there waiting, "Duke?", Anna struggled to remember his name.

He opened his mouth to speak but got interrupted by a female voice from behind Anna, "Oh, you're early!"

Anna spun around to see Elsa sitting on the snow. Her coat looked more casual than the day before but was still a gorgeous blue. "Oh, hey Elsa!", Anna noticed the blonde looking her up and down before catching her eyes and shy smile.

The look of panic that lit up Elsa's face was adorable. She spoke quickly, "oh sorry! I was just waiting for you since I didn't have any other lessons right now. I figured I would come by and surprise you."

Duke chimed in under his breath so quiet Anna barely heard it, "or any today at all".

Anna's eyes sparkled with delight and she gave Elsa the warmest smile she could. She sighed dreamily with a dopey smile on her face which made Elsa's pale skin turn bright red.

Duke clears his throat loudly, knocking Anna out of her stupor, "Elsa refused to tell me where you two would be going, but she wanted to take you out herself."

"Where are we going?", Anna asked inquisitively. Watching Elsa take a deep breath and calm herself down.

Elsa took her by the hand and let a wide smile grow on her face, "it's where I used to go when I was learning!" Elsa leaned in and whispered enthusiastically in Anna's ear, "It's a secret to almost everyone! It's not far, just follow me."

Anna fought back a swoon as Elsa's cool breath breezed past her ear. After a second, she was almost pulled off her feet. Elsa dragged her out of the tent by her hand. Kristoff and Olaf stood waiting only to have the two blow past them without even being acknowledged. He watched them run down a path, more confused than before. Anna right before disappearing into a crowd of people turned, put her thumb to her ear, her pinky to her mouth, and mouthed, "I'll call you".

* * *

Elsa didn't lie, they only walked for a few minutes before they came across an open clearing, her hand still holding Anna's. There was a field of untouched snow in front of them and the only thing brighter than it, at that moment, was Elsa. The look on Elsa's face when she turned towards Anna could have made anyone smile. This side of Elsa was innocent and pure, like a child opening gifts on their birthday. Anna's nose crumpled, her grin grew larger, and her eyes still sparkling every time they looked into Elsa's. All of her's doubts and feelings of uncertainty melted away when their gazes met. she couldn't begin to control herself at how perfect everything was going. The unblemished snow, the area devoid of others so it gave off an inviting feeling that Anna enjoyed, and the warmth of Elsa's hand...

She finally realized they were holding hands, and wave after wave of nervous excitement coursed through her body. The heat crept up the back of her neck, and her head and heart went to war.

Doubts started to spring up again, the physical contact had started to make her feel guilty. Her thoughts screamed about how wrong it was, but she couldn't feel more right.

Elsa finally noticed Anna's discomfort, "what's wrong?", she wondered without realizing they were still connected. Elsa followed Anna's gaze to their hands, which she quickly pulled back, and stuttered, "oh, uh, sorry..." Her ears went red and it wasn't from the cold.

The tiniest noise of disappointment escaped Anna's mouth when Elsa's warmth left hers, one that she didn't even mean to make. She turned a bright red as soon as it came out, a mix of embarrassment and want burning below her skin. "No, no, it's no problem", Anna chastised herself for being as awkward as she felt. Her head getting the better of her, she tried to suppress the hormones raging inside her to stop her from stammering out something she would regret. "Let's get started shall we?", Anna pushed to change the subject.

Elsa nodded and the silence while they strapped in began. After a few minutes of the thickest tension either of them had felt, Elsa cleared her throat, "so do you remember everything from yesterday?"

"Yeah, I really couldn't forget some of the lessons we had yesterday", she rubbed her butt making a goofy face.

Elsa covered her mouth and stifled a laugh, and the air around the girls returned to normal. "Okay! Strap in, we're going to take the training wheels off for this one. The powder on the ground is just like a pillow, so don't worry too much if you fall, nothing should get hurt too bad", Elsa smiled and tried to hide the glance at Anna's rear.

Anna was too busy panicking over the slope in front of them to even notice. The slope's incline was not very steep, but it was the first time Anna was on her snowboard on anything but flat ground. "Are you sure this is a good idea?", Anna's voice wavered at her teacher.

"Trust me, this is even easier than our bunny hill, and with all the fresh snow you can practice carving easier", Elsa pacified her. The confusion written all over Anna's face prompted Elsa to continue, "carving is turning, remember? We went over it yesterday. If you have fresh snow on the ground there is more for the board to grip. It allows for easier movement on either side."

"Okay, I trust you, just don't let me go too fast", Anna confided in Elsa's experience.

The lopsided smile Elsa made spoke almost as much as the look she gave Anna. The only word to describe it would be pure affection. She looked at the ground, "just strap in for now, I'll make sure nothing happens for us to go too fast."

Anna didn't know exactly how to take that, but she smiled tenderly and hoped it meant what she wanted it to.

* * *

As the day progressed, the pristine snow flattened out from the girls gliding over it. After a few text messages to Kristoff, a couple of tumbles by Anna, and a bit of flirting and lust driven peeks at the other when they would bend over, the girls sat on top of the slope looking at the sunset. The silence this time was comfortable and almost intimate. Anna felt amazing, the day was coming to a close and she got to watch the last few minutes of it with a stunning person right beside her. Both of them had a delighted look on their faces, basking in the glow of sunset.

Anna took a deep breath and noticed Elsa was looking at her, and not the sunset. Anna bit her lip through her smile, and slowly glanced over, meeting her stare. Neither of them spoke, they were both caught up in the moment. Every single voice in Anna's mind stopped and the world stood still. She marveled in Elsa's beauty, her caring demeanor, and her calm, gentle nature. Her heart went so out of control she was left breathless. Before she realized it herself, she started to lean in.

Anna could feel Elsa get lost in her command. She could feel the heat coming off Elsa's body, the sparks between them ignited to a flame. The last thing Anna saw before her eyes shut was Elsa licking her lips and allowing her eyes to shut as well. Blinded by her infatuation with Elsa, she let her jaw go slack a bit and everything felt right. Inch by inch, second by second the girls fell deeper into each other. The mountain was theirs, the snow swirled around them in the cold winter wind, and for both girls there was nothing more right than what was happening.

Elsa's breath swept across Anna's lips, the warm air causing her to gasp. Then it happened, her phone started vibrating and ringing, and dragged both girls out of their daze. Anna's eyes opened and her face went from slightly pink to crimson as her brain took back over. She shot up, grabbed the phone from her pocket, and slammed her finger on the button to answer it. "HELLO", she screamed, clearly flustered and annoyed.

Elsa hadn't moved, and while Anna did not see her stunned, pained expression, the way Anna's voice shook as she spoke into the phone and the speed at which she pulled away hurt her. Elsa clearly wanted this just as much, if not more, than Anna. She peered down at the snow, and did everything she could not to look at Anna.

"That was Kristoff", Anna said stiffly still not looking at Elsa. "He is hungry and wants me to come back so we can go get dinner."

"Oh...", Elsa's voice cracked, "okay, let's head back."

Anna spun around and realized just how much her actions had stung the blonde. "Elsa, I-".

"Grab your board", Elsa interrupted, "I don't want you being late like last night."

The storm in Anna's head raged out of control. She wondered what to say, what to do, what to feel. Everything felt right then, now after the fact she felt guilty...

Angry...

Confused...

She whispered, "Elsa..."

Elsa ignored her and started to walk off towards the trail they used to get there. She walked fast and stayed in front of Anna the entire time without looking back. Anna walked as fast as she could to catch up but was just not as used to maneuvering in the snow as Elsa. They got to the lodge in no time due to Elsa's grueling pace. Elsa finally turned to face Anna, "I hope you enjoyed your second day of lessons, please make sure to come back again." The tone of her voice was formal, it was professional. It made Anna feel like just another customer who bought lessons and time ran out.

"Elsa please...", Anna tried one more time. Elsa wiped a tear away from her face just as she turned away. She put her goggles down over her eyes, and ran the opposite direction, leaving Anna alone in front of the lodge. Anna dropped her snowboard and tried to chase after her. She slipped on the snow and fell forward to her knees. The blonde braid disappeared into the crowd, "I'm sorry...", Anna finished her sentence quietly as her heart sank into her chest.

* * *

Both painful depression and surprising animosity from Anna colored the rest of the night. Kristoff took her to a restaurant, where she basically threw the menu back at the server, then minutes later was on the verge of tears. Her emotions were on her sleeve and every time Kristoff asked about it, she would quickly change the subject, then continued to volley her emotions again. Dinner ended quickly, Kristoff shoveled the food into his face and Anna had very little appetite. The uncomfortable silence continued through the ride home, and when they arrived at the house she quickly walked inside, breezed by her uncle and cousins feigning exhaustion, and sprinted up to her room.

She laid in bed staring at the ceiling. The only clothes she had taken off was the outer layerkilo and her shoes, her hair was undone and splayed across the pillow. She closed her eyes and could almost feel Elsa's lips so close to hers again. She squeezed them even tighter, and tried to keep that feeling in her chest. The harder she tried to hold on to it, the faster it slipped away. How Elsa sounded when she last spoke to her haunted her instead. The grief burned inside her, she was angry and sad. She couldn't decide if she wanted to cry into her pillow or start punching it.

Then she heard it, the same noise that started all of this. Her phone was going off again, she had received a text message. She almost fell off the bed as she scattered to get her phone. "Please...", she hoped as hard as she could, "please be you." She finally pulled the phone out of her jacket pocket, turned it on, and the name 'Kristoff' could not have been more soul crushing at that exact moment if it tried. She reluctantly opened the message.

'Hey, I know you're not in the mood to talk right now, but if you want to talk or if I have to kick someones ass, let me know okay?'

She didn't respond, instead she opened her conversation with Elsa and keyed in a message.

'Hey... I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from, but I wanted to thank you for today. EVERYTHING was amazing and perfect and... I don't know. I just wanted to ask if we could do another lesson tomorrow or talk or something...'

She hit send and felt the tears well up in her eyes. She held her breath for a second, as the phone showed Elsa typing something back to her. Then it disappeared for a few seconds before it showed her typing again. Anna prayed for something. Anything. Elsa stopped typing again. Anna waited a few seconds for her to begin again, she didn't. She waited a few more, the tears starting to stream down her face. After a few minutes, Anna accepted Elsa wasn't going to respond. Her eyes were heavy, the day was both physically and emotionally draining. She cried herself to sleep, all the while her tears changed from sorrow to frustration.

She was frustrated at Elsa.

She was frustrated at her phone.

She was frustrated at herself...

* * *

**A/N: This story is quickly becoming my favorite of the two elsanna fic's I'm writing right now. Enjoy the frustration as a young girl struggles with her sexuality cause her emotional roller coaster is far from over.**


	4. Day 3

Anna woke up miserable. She still felt just as angry and confused as the night before, but now she had to worry about her eyes. They were puffy and hurt due to her crying last night. She pushed the day before out of her mind to avoid more sobbing. This was unlike her, normally Anna bounced back from anything after a night's rest and possibly some chocolate. This, however, no amount of chocolate was going to fix. She wasn't sad or mad or confused, she was all three at once. She scooped up her phone and glanced at the time, secretly hoping for a text message from Elsa. Sadly, there were none, and it was early. Very early. She grabbed her phone and wanted to see if some early morning chocolate could at least make her feel a bit better. She crept slowly down the stairs trying not to wake anyone. When she entered the kitchen, there was her Uncle Pabbie sitting at the kitchen table drinking a coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning there", he cheered as he glanced up from the paper.

Anna squinted to cover up her puffy eyes and tried to figure out how anyone could be this alert this early in the morning. "Good morning", Anna squeaked.

Pabbie put down his coffee, carefully folded his paper, and took off his glasses. "So", he looked at Anna, concerned, "do you want to talk about it?"

Anna didn't want to think, she didn't want to let her mind wander, terrified of where it would go. "I don't really feel like crying this early in the morning, I did enough of that last night."

He got up out of his chair, smiled at her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, "let me get you some hot chocolate sweetie."

Anna wrapped her arms around him and her voice cracked, "okay..."

Pabbie had the patients of a saint and when you were around him everything seems like it will be okay. He could read people very well and always knew how to react accordingly. He whipped up some hot chocolate, placed it on the table, and said, "here we go", as they both sat down. Pabbie picked up his coffee and sipped it, patiently waiting, like he knew Anna would eventually speak.

Anna sipped her drink with him. She finally blurted out, "Pabbie..."

"Yes?", he peered over his glasses at her.

It was obvious that she was fighting with something inside, "I just- I think I have a crush... on my snowboarding instructor, but I'm not sure..."

"Well, that seems pretty normal", he continued to sip his coffee unfettered by this news.

Anna narrowed her eyes, "we almost kissed yesterday at the lodge", she took a long deep breath trying to steady her nerves.

Pabbie smiled at his niece, his head on a tilt that begged her to continue.

"Well it actually started two days ago during my first lesson. We flirted a lot while the other two people went down the bunny hill. It was great, we had so much fun together both days. Then yesterday the guy who schedules lessons said that there weren't any that day and it was just us going out. Which means that I was the reason we met yesterday and she made me feel so special", Anna's mouth rambled faster than she could think. "We went to a secret spot my instructor knew of, it was so pretty and great. Then we stopped to watch the sunset and it just kind of happened. Right before we kissed though, Kristoff called me, and I panicked. Then I got up and being super awkward me, I ruined the whole moment." Anna blushed as her mouth finally stopped.

He crossed his leg, took an occasional sip of his coffee as he listened, and nodded along as she went. He made sure she was done and asked, "why do I feel like there are parts you aren't telling me?"

Anna wanted to say it, she wanted to just tell her uncle about Elsa. How beautiful she looks. How amazing she is. How great she makes her feel. Instead she brought up another question, "Uncle Pabbie, when did you...", she hesitated and looked at the door expecting one of her cousins to barge in any second.

"Anna", Pabbie released a breath, "this is just between you and me, none of the others will find out, and I guarantee you they are all still sound asleep", the confidence in his voice consoled Anna slightly.

Her expression went from panic to focused, the red in her face deepened. She forced the words out, "when did you... figure out... you... were... um-", she swallowed harshly trying to remove the lump in her throat. "you... were... gay?", her face contorted like asking this caused her physical pain.

Pabbie leaned forward a bit and offered her his hand. "Well, it was a long time ago, let me see", he took off his glasses and tapped them against his chin. "I'd say I was about your age, maybe a little older."

Tears began forming in her eyes as she reached out and held on for dear life, "how did you feel when you figured it out?"

In the same calm, soothing voice, he answered her question honestly, "I felt stuck."

"I don't understand", she muttered through her held back the tears.

He smiled and finished, "I felt angry, I felt sad, I felt different and relieved, but mostly, I was confused."

"How did you deal with it?", Anna shouted back at her uncle, her tears freely fell now.

He cupped her face in his hand and wiped her tears away with his thumb, "by talking about it."

That was all Anna could handle. She threw her arms around him and told him everything.

She told him about Elsa.

About her icy blue eyes and gorgeous blonde hair.

About how they flirted and had fun.

About how she felt when she was around her and how they almost kissed.

All the while Pabbie never let go of her, holding her in his embrace. He let her get it all out, every feeling, every guilty thought, every single confused, pent-up, frustrated urge she had. Pabbie made sure she let go first, and asked her, "so now that you have that out in the open, how do you feel?"

Anna did truly feel better, it felt good to talk to someone who understood. "I'm still really confused inside, but more than that I'm angry... not with Elsa or Kristoff or you or anyone. I'm angry with myself."

"And why is that?", Pabbie questioned, returning to his now cold coffee.

"Because she opened up to me... And I hurt her..."

* * *

The day dragged on, Kristoff, her cousins, and Uncle Oaken all began to rise. Pabbie made her a promise not to tell anyone about their talk, but left an open invitation if she wanted to discuss anything further. She kept busy with random things around the house, helping Oaken with breakfast, goofing around with Kristoff, and playing games with her younger cousins. She felt better keeping it between her and Pabbie, but she caught herself checking her phone every so often, looking for a message from Elsa.

The afternoon came and Kristoff came up to her. "Hey, I was wondering", he paused and shifted his weight from leg to leg, "if you don't want to it's completely alright, but Hans and Olaf are hitting the slopes since they both have off today. If you want to come, you can hang out with us and we will beat up anyone who tries to hit on you." Kristoff puffed out his chest, and put his hands on his hips, attempting to make a mock superhero pose.

Anna snorted at her cousin's ridiculousness, "I don't know Super Kristoff, I'm pretty sure I could take you three on alone, save anyone else." Anna put on a smile to cover up how conflicted she was. She gave Kristoff a once over since he still hadn't broken his pose, "give me one second and I'll let you know."

Kristoff nodded keeping stance and staring off into the distance, "Fear not citizen, my other super pals aren't expecting me for another hour."

Anna gave Kristoff a strange look and turned to head upstairs. She glanced at her phone again lost in thought. She stopped outside of a closed door, she took a few deep breaths and raised her hand to knock.

"Come in", Pabbie's voice came from the other side of the door. Anna pulled back a bit and gave the door a confused glance, "don't give the door that look, open it and come in."

Anna opened the door, "wait, what? How did you know I was out there?"

"I didn't, I've just been saying that every few minutes till you showed up", he joked. He was sitting at a desk with papers everywhere and three different computer monitors in front of him. He did not look away from the papers he held in his hands, "I guess Kristoff finally asked you didn't he?" Anna allowed her confusion to show on her face again, he didn't look but laughed, "there's that face again."

Still baffled by her uncle's perceptiveness, Anna leaned away from him, "oookay." Her uncle turned from his papers glancing over his glasses waiting. Something about Pabbie always made Anna want to talk, "he asked if I wanted to go to the lodge again. I want to see Elsa. I want to apologize and make things right, but what if she doesn't want to see me?"

Pabbie took off his glasses, folded his arms, and leaned back in his chair, "do you know she doesn't want to see you?"

"Well, no but-"

"Then why don't you go find out?", he interrupted her. Confidence and wisdom radiated from him, "stop over thinking things. Your heart cannot be so easily changed, your head", he paused and twisted his hand in the air, "can be persuaded."

Anna understood what he meant, she wanted to follow her heart but the fear of what Elsa would say still weighed heavily on her thoughts. She glanced down at her phone again. "Thanks Pabbie", she smiled and turned to go tell Kristoff she would, in fact, be joining him.

"Any time, sweetie", and he turned back to his work.

* * *

Still worried about Anna, Kristoff made sure to keep her within arms reach . They talked on the way there, Kristoff sang along with the radio making Anna laugh. They arrived and Anna started to feel the fear well up inside her, Kristoff's body language showed his regret in bringing her along. Anna stepped in front of Kristoff, determined to not let it stop her. Thoughts of what to say and do swirled in her head, she focused so much on her thoughts, she walked right into Hans. She bounced off him and fell backward into Kristoff.

"I'm so sorry, are you hurt?", Hans asked.

The look Anna gave him spoke volumes, "I'm... fine?" Befuddled, she stared at Hans, who acted like a different person every time she saw him. He was charming and suave, unlike yesterday. Anna decided to ignore this, she had bigger things on her mind.

Hans opened the front door to the lodge and bowed a bit, "for the lady." The smile on his face could have lit up the room.

Anna gave him a smile back, assuming they just caught him in a bad mood the day before. She walked into the lodge and her thought process wavered. Thoughts of Elsa and worrying about the next time they would meet turned into wondering about Hans and what made him tick.

Kristoff followed her inside, and shot a look at Hans, "back... off..." His words were almost as strong and threatening as the finger he waved in Han's face.

Blindsided, Olaf almost took her off her feet when he hugged her from the side, "hey Anna!"

Kristoff greeted Olaf more graciously than he did Hans, giving him a high-five and the boys' weird handshake. The four stopped for lift tickets and Anna's rental, all the while Hans was telling jokes and making Anna laugh. Kristoff grimaced at every quip and every giggle the two shared. Anna forgot how she felt for a bit, forgot about her pain, and more importantly, forgot what she had come there to do. The four made their way out to the mountain slopes and stopped.

"Okay, we have Anna with us today, so were going to hit a lower slope", Kristoff commanded the group. "I'm thinking either a double green circle or a blue square we can still zoom around and Anna won't kill herself."

Hans explained this further to Anna before she could ask, "one green circle is the easiest, two is a bit harder, then blue square is the next step up followed by black diamonds."

Kristoff's face hardened and Anna's softened. Olaf laughed and asked Hans, "dude, when was the last time we were even on those trails?"

Hans laughed back, "beats the hell out of me man."

Anna used the moment the boys' chatted among themselves and whispered to Kristoff, "be nice! I know you're being protective, but he's just being a gentleman."

"That's what worries me", Kristoff muttered in return.

Anna glanced down the way at the lessons tent, thoughts of Elsa reemerged in her head. She wanted to go see her, talk to her, but there was no way Kristoff would let her go off alone. Then she saw her, there was no mistaking that blue jacket, that presence around her. Elsa walked out of the tent with three people behind her. Now was her chance, there was no guarantee she'd get another opportunity like this. "Oh! Hey, I'll be right back."

The group stopped and looked at her, "whats up Anna?", Kristoff questioned suspiciously.

She glanced down at the tent again, "I just saw my instructor and wanted to go say hi real fast."

"Okay, let's go", Kristoff started to walk towards the lessons tents.

She knew that if Kristoff was there she'd have no chance of talking with Elsa. "I'll be fine, Kristoff", she insisted dryly, "It's just Elsa."

"Oh yeah, you had her as your teacher", Hans scoffed putting all of his emphasis on the word "her". "Let's all go talk to her for a minute", he hooked his arm through Anna's.

Almost losing it Kristoff very slowly asked Hans for a word alone.

An unlikely rescuer came in the form of Olaf, "I needed to ask Elsa about some lessons I scheduled for her anyway. You two go have a fun talk, Anna and I will be right back", the tone of Olaf's voice made it seem like he had no idea what was going on.

Kristoff nodded not looking away from Hans for a second. The two of them tottered off towards Anna's objective, leaving the boys to argue. Olaf giggled awkwardly, "they are so fun aren't they?"

Perplexed, Anna asked Olaf, "You do know why Kristoff wanted to talk to Hans, right?"

The clueless expression on Olaf's face almost made Anna laugh, "no, why?"

"Never mind," Anna replied, shaking her head.

After a few seconds, Olaf asked very bluntly, "do you like Elsa?"

Anna's face immediately went flush. "What do you mean?, she stammered, "nothing happened, what did you hear?"

"She is a lovely teacher, but Hans and some of the other staff don't like her", Olaf retorted his face unchanged. "I was wondering what you thought."

"She's amazing", Anna admitted, her face still red from before.

"Elsa!", Olaf called waving one hand above his head.

Anna ducked behind him, not hidden at all. Elsa looked over and waved before she noticed who was hiding behind him. Her entire body froze, "Anna..?"

"Elsa!", Olaf greeted her with a hug, "hey, I wanted to ask you about some beginners that wanted private lessons."

He continued rambling, but neither girl paid any attention to him, both locked in the other's sight. For the second time in two days, the world around them ceased to exist. They said nothing, their eyes did most of the talking. The pain and hurt that glowed from Elsa's and an apologetic gaze that flowed out of Anna's met somewhere in the middle and had their conversation for them. After what felt like minutes, the world started back up, Olaf was calling Elsa's name, having finished what he was talking about.

"Olaf, just go introduce yourself to my group", Elsa faltered, eyes not leaving Anna's.

Without hesitation, he giggled out, "Okay", and walked away

"Hi", Anna breathed shyly, reaching across herself rubbing her arm.

Elsa's face screamed that she did not want to do this here, now, "hi, Anna." Her body finally unfroze and she turned her head, not wanting to face the girl across from her.

"Elsa, I'm so sorry about what happened", she apologized.

Elsa backed away, "no, no it's okay... You don't have to apologize. But you should probably go, please."

Anna put one hand out. "Please, just let me explain", she begged.

The blonde brought her arms across her stomach, "Anna, please I have a lesson I have to teach. I need you to go."

Determined to be heard, Anna continued anyway, "Elsa, I was thinking so much last night and this morning. There's been a storm in my head since we almost-"

"Enough, Anna...", Elsa made it clear she did not want to hear another thing, her shoulders rose to her ears as she cowered away. "There's nothing else to say, please leave me be", a slight quiver in her voice as she got more and more upset. She was desperately trying to hold it together. "Go away, Anna!", she shouted.

It stung, those three simple words cut so deep into Anna's heart. Olaf returned now, "everything okay girls?"

Elsa straightened up, steadied her breath, and in the same professional tone she used with Anna the night before declared, "Olaf, we can talk about whatever you need to later. Right now, I have a lesson I have to tend to. Both of you have to go."

Even Olaf wasn't so oblivious about how much pain Elsa was in, "come on Anna, let's get back to the others." He grabbed her hand and lead her back out away from the blue snowboarder.

Anna looked over her shoulder as they walked away, each step shook her harder than the one before. Finally, they rounded the corner and Elsa slid out of view. Anna wanted to break away from Olaf, to run back and try again. Her heart screamed to go, her head refused to cooperate though. Olaf dragged her back up the path where Kristoff and Hans were waiting.

Olaf chuckled, "you boys have a good conversation?"

"Yeah...", Hans sneered, "fan-friggin-tastic."

Kristoff saw the expression on Anna's face, "what happened?"

Anna panicked and forced a smile, "oh! Nothing at all, we went, I talked to Elsa for a second, and we came back. That's all." She needed something to lean on, something to help ease her pain. Stepping back away from Olaf she tripped over the board she left there, and Hans caught her hand.

"Be careful, we're not even on the slopes yet", Hans laughed.

The forced smile came a little easier for her, and she shot Kristoff a look before he could shoot one at Hans.

Kristoff looked uneasy. "Whatever, let's go", he grumbled and stormed off.

* * *

The rest of the day went by smoothly, Hans did his best to stay by Anna. Kristoff watched begrudgingly as Anna did the same thing to Hans. It made it easier for Anna, Hans' charm made her forget her pain and the war in her head, if only slightly. He helped teach her how to turn by coming up behind her, grabbing her hips, and letting her twist her body to make it easier. They joked and laughed and had a lot of fun together, she wondered if this was the same guy Kristoff warned her about. She figured Kristoff must have the wrong idea about him. All the stories he told her, must have been gross exaggerations. A game of telephone that got way out of control, by someone who just heard a rumor. She rationalized all of it thing in her head. Anna wanted to feel normal, ordinary, like any other girl on this mountain. Elsa's bright blue eyes flashed in her mind. She shook it away, and focused on Hans.

The daylight rapidly faded, and the four made their way down the mountain. "One last time", Anna called, not willing to let the day end.

Hans laughed, "something you will learn, whenever someone says the words, one last time, it's time to stop cause that's when you hurt yourself."

Anna pouted, crossed her arms, and tried her best to conceal her smile. "Fine!", she huffed in a half giggle, half serious tone.

Olaf took off his skis and sighed, "man, I don't want to work tomorrow."

"Ouch, you're on bonfire duty tomorrow aren't you?", Kristoff cringed.

Hans commented, "that sucks, bro."

Looking around at the three, Anna chimed in, "what are you talking about?"

Hans smiled his charming smile, "once a month the lodge does a bonfire night. They set up a huge pit and from dusk till about midnight they keep a huge bonfire going."

Her eyes lit up, Anna gushed, "That sounds like so much fun!"

Olaf chuckled, "yeah, its my turn to work it. It's not hard, it's just long."

"You have one job", Kristoff added, "Make sure no one sets themselves on fire. It's basically hang out and get paid, but you have to clean up afterward."

Anna had sparkles dancing before her eyes, "oh man, I want to go!"

With a sly wink and his charming grin, Hans got down on one knee and proclaimed loudly, "my dear Anna, would you do me the honor of letting me escort you to bonfire night."

Kristoff jumped in, "No way in he-"

"I would love to go", Anna cut him off, "we can keep Olaf company." She sent her cousin another piercing stare. "If Kristoff doesn't want to join us we can just go ourselves", she heckled at cousin.

Hans got off his knee and they all walked towards the lodge. Anna gave him her cell phone number, and after they all said their goodbyes, Kristoff leaned into Anna, "you don't even realize what you just started do you?"


	5. Day 4

"I... Am... Going!", Anna yelled at her cousin.

Angry, Kristoff screamed back, "he is only after one thing Anna! Why won't you believe me?"

She sighed, "I'm tired of arguing with you about this! You fought me in the car on the way back, when we got home, before I went to bed, and when we woke up this morning. He's not like that, he is a good person."

"You just met him! I've known him for years!", Kristoff tried his best to rationalize this to Anna. She refused to listen, he continued, "I've seen him do it to so many girls who were just there on vacation. He charms them for a few days, gets... what he wants... then moves on to the next."

Kristoff shifted uncomfortably, Anna could tell he wanted to say something else. She tapped her foot, "well? I know what you're gonna say!"

"I'm not letting you get your heart ripped out by Hans", Kristoff was trying his best to stay calm, but his protective side was rapidly taking over.

"I am going to the bonfire with or without you!", Anna's hands curled into fists at her side. "If you don't want to come, Hans said he can pick me up."

He threw his head back and groaned in irritation, "so there is nothing there to stop him from getting to comfortable? Yeah, that's going to happen."

Anna smiled, crossed her arms, and nodded, "then that's that!"

"Remind me to ask Dad if your mother was this stubborn", Kristoff sighed. He let his eyes slide closed, "can you just tell me..."

Interest piqued, Anna stared quizzically.

"It's not cause of what happened between you and the person in your group, is it?", his seriousness took Anna by surprise.

Heat bloomed on her ears and she shouted, "no! These have nothing to do with each other." The way she responded only made the situation seem more conspicuous, both to Kristoff and herself.

Kristoff sighed and decided not to push the issue, "fine, just please don't let Hans work his charms on you."

"I'm a big girl, I can handle myself...", Anna's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to push Elsa out of her mind.

* * *

Anna tried to avoid Kristoff for a few hours to attempt to spare herself the same argument about the bonfire for the sixth time. Not long after their last argument, she was walking down the hall with one of her other cousins and Pabbie caught her as she passed by his office.

Pabbie's voice came through the shut door clear as day, "Anna, can I see you in here for a moment?" She held her cousin's hand, turned to the door, and reached for the knob. "Alone...", Pabbie's voice echoed through the door again.

With a snicker and a wave, Anna entered the room. "Yes, Pabbie?", she hesitated slightly. She could tell that Pabbie already knew what she was going to say just off those two words.

Pabbie took off his glasses as he turned around in his chair. "So...", he folded the glasses, curled his hand around them, and put that hand up to his mouth.

"So...", Anna mimicked. She felt his gaze wash over her, it made her want to tell him everything right then and there.

Pabbie remained silent, he only shifted in his chair slightly which made Anna shift uncomfortably. It was obvious that Pabbie was waiting for her to tell him everything.

"We, uh, we talked... Elsa and I... Yesterday", Anna started.

The silence continued, Pabbie folded his hands together and looked over them at Anna for a moment. He broke the silence finally, "What happened?"

Her eyes hit the floor, "Well, I more talked to her, she had a group with her for lessons. We went and talked to her, Olaf and I did. I didn't want Kristoff finding out just yet. He's really protective, I know, but I just didn't want him worrying", the words escaped from her mouth.

Pabbie, unphased, continued, "why are you and Kristoff arguing? You two have been at it non stop since last night." His expression finally softened, "I can tell when my son is upset, he storms around the house in a huff and when someone asks, he just says he's fine."

A bit embarrassed, Anna confessed, "The lodge does a bonfire night once a month. I told someone I would go with them. Kristoff doesn't approve of it and I feel bad, but I really want to go."

"Elsa?", Pabbie asked.

The uncertainty in his voice caused Anna's gaze to shift back up to Pabbie and stare for a second. She regained herself seconds later, "no...", she chirped and hesitated a moment too long. Her eyes fell shut, "no, do you know Kristoff's friend, Hans?"

The look on his face told Anna her uncle was all too familiar with Hans. He took in a deep breath, "what made you want to go with the Westerguard's boy?"

She shuffled her feet. "Well, after I talked to Elsa, she told me to go away. She barely responded when I tried to apologize. She looked so hurt, I wanted to give her a hug but I didn't know if that was okay so I just stood there awkwardly, like an idiot. It was my fault, I tried to explain, but I think I should have waited till she was alone. I just wanted to tell her how I felt, but when she told me to go, I didn't want to hurt her again...", her line of sight fell back to the floor.

"Where does the Westerguard's boy play into this?", Pabbie wondered aloud as he tilted his head back.

Anna stared intently at the ground, "after Olaf and I got back, Hans cheered me up a bit. He told me jokes and made me laugh. Kristoff said he does this all the time, but he was so honest when he talked like he meant every word. At the end of the night, he asked me if I wanted to come to the bonfire night to keep Olaf company."

Once again Pabbie fell silent. Anna glanced up at him as he stared at the wall. She watched as he calculated something behind his eyes. The quiet lasted a minute, then his vision fell back on Anna, "I trust you to make your own decisions, sometimes you have to see both sides of a tree before you decide where to let it fall."

Confused, Anna opened her mouth to speak but then shook it away. She ignored her uncle's cryptic message, "I just feel normal when I am with Hans." She frowned just long enough for Pabbie to notice, "he makes me feel like an ordinary girl", she raised her voice, "someone who isn't so confused."

"Oh Anna," her uncle got up, walked across the room, and gave her a hug. "I know that you are confused, and I know you think that being another face in the crowd is better than what's happening in your head and your heart... But you're lying to yourself."

Anna pulled back from her uncle, "wait, what?"

"You want to feel normal...", he stopped her, "you want to feel ordinary." He put his hands on her shoulders and looked right into her eyes. Anna saw the same thing she saw in Elsa's eyes, pure affection. "You told me yesterday about how when you were with Elsa, all the negative feelings melted away. You told me about how beautiful she was to you. How much fun the two of you had together. How you felt with her. Knowing all those things, how can you ever settle for feeling normal again?"

Unable to keep looking into her uncle's eyes, she, again, looked at the floor. She bit her lip and the storm inside her began to rage on again. Her heart wanted everything Pabbie said; her attraction to Elsa, the fun they had together, and most of all the way she felt with her. Her head however, told her to stay away, that she had done enough damage, and that Elsa already told her she wanted nothing to do with her. "I just want to stop being confused", she admitted.

Pabbie cupped her chin and brought her gaze to meet his and whispered, "did you do what I said to yesterday? Did you follow your heart and not let your head get in your way?"

Anna remained silent. She thought back to when Elsa disappeared from her sight as Olaf and her walked away. She yearned to go back but kept walking with Olaf instead.

Pabbie knew the answer even if she didn't say it, "then I think you owe it to both of you to try again."

"But what about Hans?", Anna trembled out, "He's nice to me, and I like him. I can't just blow him off."

He smiled a huge smile, pat her on the head, and gave her a hint, "never be with anyone who makes you feel ordinary. Don't do whats right for Hans or Elsa. Do whats right for Anna."

The door flew open and Kristoff leered through it, "hey, if you don't want to be late we need to leave soon. Hans will be there soon."

Anna looked at her cousin, then at her uncle and nervously stammers out, "okay, I think I'm ready."

Kristoff glanced at his father, who just tilted his head and smiled, before the two kids walked out.

* * *

The entire drive up Anna was unusually quiet. Kristoff joked around, being his normal goofy self, but Anna missed at least half of what her cousin said every time. As they pulled up to the lodge, the sun slowly set behind the trees. Anna didn't move. She wanted to, but she couldn't. Inside the lodge was Hans, the guy she, unfortunately, agreed to go on a date with, and it terrified her.

Kristoff climbed out of the truck, closed his door, and walked around to Anna's side. He pulled the door open and comforted her, "we don't have to go through with this if you don't want to. I can bring us back home and I'll make something up like you weren't feeling well or the car got a flat."

"No, I want to do this", Anna declared, "I've been running since yesterday, and I want to know exactly what I'm doing." She swung her legs to the side, hopped out of the truck, and closed the door behind her. Her inner turmoil made her legs heavy as she trudged her way up to the lodge.

Kristoff put his arm around her shoulder, "I'll be right there the entire time. If you ever feel uncomfortable just give me a look, I'll get Hans out of there." Still against this date, Kristoff tried his best to make it as easy for Anna as possible.

They made their way inside, past the front desk, past the rental area, out the door to the mountain, and up the stairs to where they were having the bonfire. The fire was amazing. The flames were huge and whipped at least ten feet in the air. They walked past a huge wood pile to the side of the fire which was around a huge frame to keep anyone from getting too close.

Kristoff threw his hand in the air, "hey!"

Anna followed his eyes and saw Hans and Olaf through the crowd. She followed Kristoff closely, Hans bowed and kissed her hand when he greeted her. It sent a jolt through Anna's body that caused more questions than answers. All the while, Kristoff glowered in their direction.

The boys finished their greeting and settled in on one side of the fire. Olaf sat on the bottom of the benches set up, Kristoff and Anna sat down on either side of Hans. They started to talk and everything was going smoothly, or so it seemed.

Anna let out a quick breath. She worried that she would see Elsa tonight, but Olaf and Marsh were the only two she really saw tending to the flame. She struggled enough with how she felt with just Hans here, last thing she needed was to complicate things with Els-

She stopped breathing. Through the crowed of people, sitting off to the side holding a mug with steam coming out of it, she saw Elsa sitting alone. Their eyes met for a second before Elsa looked away, tucked her legs into her body, and pulled her cup in closer. She seemed to try to hide as much of herself as she could, curling into as tight of a ball as possible.

Hans put his hand on Anna's head and laughed. This elicited a disgusted sneer from Elsa as her head shot forward. She glared at Hans for a minute then turned her head back to the side again.

"Why is Elsa sitting over there all alone?", Anna wondered out loud, not looking away from Elsa.

Hans scoffed a bit, "the black diamond princess grace us with her presence? Unheard of, she doesn't associate with commoners". He got up and walked around the fire.

Anna felt terrible, she wanted to make up with Elsa, and now she was here, at the bonfire, on a date, with Hans. Her head hung low, the feelings of guilt and anger rapidly returned.

Hans returned with a hot chocolate for Anna and himself. She thanked him and tried to focus on the boys, but her eyes strayed over to Elsa every chance they got. Every time Anna peered over at Elsa she caught her looking back. She fought to keep Elsa's beautiful eyes out of her head all night.

* * *

The night carried on, Elsa moved every so often to complete some task to keep the event going, not without a spectator though. If Elsa got to her feet, Anna was on her and watched every motion she made. Distracted, Anna tried to participate in the boy's conversations; snowboarding, movies, sports, anything and everything. Not once though did Anna lose Elsa. She saw it all.

She saw the cute way she pushed her braid over her shoulder.

She saw the adorable way she rocked from side to side watching everyone enjoy themselves.

She saw every time she lifted her cup of hot chocolate to her gorgeous lips.

Anna felt her entire body burning up. The boys eventually faded away, just distant noise, nothing more than a mere annoyance. Her attention was across the way. Elsa played along as well; every time she looked over at Anna, Anna would look away, and she would do the same when Anna looked back. Anna wanted to go over and talk with Elsa, to sit with her, to drink hot chocolate with her, to be with... She stopped the thought. She was here with Hans, and barely paid him any attention all night, outside of answering a few questions the boys threw her way. She did like him, but she was having more fun with Elsa twenty feet away.

The girl's game ended when they both turned at the same time and caught the other's glance. Elsa smiled and let out a shy wave from the hand on her cup. Already blushing quite hard, Anna sent a tiny wave back to her. Elsa got to her feet and walked over to the fire wood, which was behind the fire out of Anna's sight.

"Hey, your hair is almost less red than your face, are you cold?", Hans had put his arm around Anna and pulled her in close. The way he positioned his arm, she couldn't see Elsa's spot. "If you're cold don't worry about anything just cuddle up next to me, I'll keep you warm", Hans whispered in her ear causing her to shiver.

She flashed a look over at Kristoff, who wasn't paying attention

She felt a rush, the same feeling she got before when he kissed her hand. Hans leaned over to Anna, his hand twirled her braid between his fingers, "if you want, next time we go out, I will be your personal trainer to help you get better, just you and me."

Anna peeked past him at Kristoff again, his back turned towards her now.

Hans let out a little chuckle, "don't worry, he won't see."

He started leaning in, his eyes were closing, he was going to kiss her. Something welled up inside her, the storm that been tearing her apart for two full days, erupted stronger than before. Her eyes started to shut as well, she could feel his breath, smell it, taste it. They are so close, but then Elsa flurried through her mind, her pretty blonde hair, her porcelain pale skin, her amazing smile. Anna's eyes shot open just in time to see Kristoff pull Hans off her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?", Kristoff bellowed.

Shocked, Anna just stared at what transpired in front of her.

Hans fell backwards off the bench and barked at Kristoff, "dude, back off this doesn't involve you."

"The hell it doesn't", he yelled back.

Anna came out of her daze, her head snapped to where Elsa was. She was gone. Anna jumped out of her seat, "I need to go... I need to go take care of something". She sprinted back towards the lodge and left the boys without a glance back. She ran past the fire, down the stairs, through the doors, and by the rentals. She had to find Elsa, she needed to. "Elsa?", she called, "Elsa, where are you?"

Frantic, Anna looked around to see anything that would help her find Elsa. The lodge was quiet, everyone was either outside or home for the night. Anna listened. She listened as hard as she could. She heard hurried footsteps behind her. Her thoughts moved faster than her body as she tripped over her own feet. She caught herself, cursed, and flew back towards the rentals. She stopped, listened again, and prayed. Prayed for one more sound, a suggestion of where Elsa was, a hint of which way to go. She made out a miniscule whimper, the smallest cry in the locker area next to the rentals. She spun around and sprinted towards the break in the silence.

First row, nothing...

Second row, nothing...

Third row, nothing...

Fourth row...

Anna's pulse raced faster than her breath, she saw Elsa in the corner. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest, "Elsa!" She used the adrenaline pumping through her veins and rushed over to her.

Right before Anna reached her, the blonde simply cried, "go away, Anna".

That was the last straw. Anna couldn't take it. Her excitement took over as she began to speak, "why?! It's because I didn't kiss you two days ago, isn't it? Or because yesterday, every inch of my body wanted to pull away from Olaf to run back to you, to hold you, but I didn't?"

Elsa shook with raw emotion, "because obviously something isn't quite right! I know I like you, and you're here, with that dick up there!"

Still riding out the excitement, hurt, and pain that coursed through her veins, Anna surged, "Elsa!", who then pulled herself to her feet and tried to push past Anna. "Wait, please!", Anna grabbed her hand.

"Why won't you just leave me alone, Anna?", her voice was angry, it was hurt, it was sad, it was everything all at once. She didn't look at Anna, she couldn't, "go back up to your new boyfriend, you and him can love each other as much as you want."

Anna wanted to hug Elsa, wanted to coddle her, wanted to give her space. "It's not like that, Elsa!", she hurt like crazy, every word from Elsa stung more than the last. "I like him well enough, but-"

Elsa twirled towards Anna and threw her hands up, "why are you not out there with him then? With Hans the man whore?" Anna was losing her high, each time Elsa spoke the power she felt dwindled a bit more, "if you like him, why the hell did you follow me in here!?"

"He makes me feel normal, like I'm just ordinary. A plain person with nothing different about her. Not confused, not stuck in this middle ground that I can't get out of", Anna's frustration increased as her trance left and so did the volume of her voice. Her screams bounced off the empty locker room walls.

"Then why...", Elsa echoed back, "why are you not with him right now?"

"Because I don't want to be ordinary!", she bellowed, drunk off the exasperation that broke through from her anger, the strength she found in her weakness, the clarity she achieved in her confusion, "I want to be special, I want to feel happy, I want to feel everything I feel when I'm with you!", Anna covered her mouth, reality crashing down on her as she realized what came out of her mouth

The look of surprise on Elsa's face mirrored Anna's. Elsa turned away, "I like you, Anna... But I can barely express who I am most of the time without someone staring at me judging me", Elsa's words dripped with depression, saturated with years of the pain Anna had felt the past few days.

Anna's essence cried out for her, her soul pained to dry up all the sorrow in Elsa's voice. She bit her lip as she rapidly lost what little control she had left.

Out of nowhere, Elsa threw her hand out and spun around as tears streamed down her face, "why the hell would I want to have you go through that t-"

It was too much... Everything was just too much. Anna caught her off guard and grabbed her by her jacket. "You don't want me to go through that? I am already going through that!", her voice was strong. Excited. Clear. "Every time I think of you my knees get weak! Every time we talk I start grinning like an idiot! Every single time I try to steal a glance at you, you are already looking at me!" There was no hesitation, there couldn't be any hesitation. Anna worked on pure instinct, controlled by every inch of her body screaming to console Elsa, to cradle her in her arms, to show her exactly how she felt.

Elsa backed away, but Anna met her with every step, hands still gripping her collar. They kept moving till Elsa's back was against the wall of lockers. Her lips parted slightly, either to say something or just out of shock.

The fire in Anna's eyes burned brightly and she refused to let Elsa second guess herself again. She slammed her lips against Elsa's. All the anxiety, every criticizing thought, every heartfelt worry flowed out of Elsa into Anna. Anna drank it all in. Every nervous habit, every moment in Elsa's life she felt different, in pain, scared. She couldn't get enough. She felt Elsa in her blood after just one kiss.

The blonde tensed up and Anna could feel the heat coming from her bright red face. After a second, she felt Elsa's body calm, as she relax into the kiss. Both girls let their eyelids fall shut and Anna enjoyed Elsa's soft, warm lips on hers. The world around them stopped turning. The storm inside Anna rapidly quelled when their lips were together. Anna couldn't think, all she could do is wrap her arms around Elsa's neck, as Elsa's snaked around her waist. Nothing else mattered to Anna, the only thing that did just settled into her arms. The girls didn't want it to end, Elsa pulled away first but still had her eyes closed.

Anna opened her eyes and dreamily gasped, "wow... should I not be able to breathe like this?"

"Yeah, that's, um, that's, yeah", Elsa stammered out incoherently, opening her eyes as well.

Their eyes met, still in each others embrace. No force on earth could have stopped the two of them from smiling. Everything was right while they were in each others arms. Anna looked into Elsa's eyes and saw the same affection she saw two days ago and, without even realizing it, gave the same look right back. Anna got lost in the breathtaking blue. Time didn't exist, they fell into each other savoring this new connection. Anna never felt as amazing as she felt then.

Elsa blinked a few times and broke the silence, "are you sure about this?"

Anna's dopey smile and half lidded eyes never left, but she broke their gaze and started, "I'm sorry... For two days I was so confused. I wanted to kiss you so bad, but I had never had these feelings for a girl before. I got scared and then everything happened and I hurt you. I just-"

"Shh, shh", Elsa hushed. She leaned her forehead against Anna's and closed her eyes, "you ramble a lot."

Anna's face turned red as roses, "I do it a lot when I'm really nervous. I always catch myself after it's too la-"

"It's cute", Elsa stopped her, then leaned forward letting their lips brush. Elsa's breath ghosted over her like Hans' had earlier, but it was cooler, smelled better, tasted sweeter. It made her shiver again, but this time was different, it felt right.

They connected again, it was more controlled than the last, but Anna enjoyed it so much more. Her head buzzed, as Elsa moaned slightly. Anna yearned for Elsa, every nerve ending flared. Elsa's tongue grazed Anna's lips and she parted them slightly. Their tongues danced between their mouths. The initial negative emotions that poured from Elsa's lips, now replaced with pleasing ones. Anna tasted her affection, her warmth, her innocence. She felt Elsa's heart through her chest, and it matched hers beat for beat. Elsa rubbed circles on Anna's back and coaxed a small coo from deep in her throat. Anna's dragged her nails gently over the back of Elsa's neck which caused the blonde to bite down gently on her lip. Anna was on fire.

Every kiss burned with ferocity.

Every touch ignited with fervor.

Every moment kindled with passion.

When they finally broke away from each other, Anna's lips tingled with intensity. they were numb from the force of their kissing. After catching her breath a bit, she panted, "is this a one time thing? Cause I would love it if this wasn't a one time thing."

Elsa just smiled and shook her head, "I would love for this not to be a one time thing." The dorky smile that curled on Anna's face made Elsa laugh, "let's get back out there. Kristoff is probably worried, and I am technically still working."

Elsa pulled away much to Anna's dismay, but made up for it by weaving their fingers together as they strolled back to the fire. As they reached the door back outside, Anna hesitated, "I don't know if I want to go out there..."

A quick kiss from Elsa to her forehead calmed her slightly, but what accompanied it comforted her even more, "we can take it slow. I know this is new for you, we can move at your pace."

Anna beamed at Elsa, squeezed her hand, and whispered, "thank you." The two stepped out the door hand in hand.

* * *

The rest of the night was nothing but good times. Hans left after his incident with Kristoff, and Anna managed to convince her new girlfriend to sit with her cousin. Anna was not ashamed of Elsa and her, but held back when Kristoff was looking. Elsa picked up on this and respected Anna's reservations. The two continued their game of look and look away and hooked pinkies every time she was sure Kristoff wasn't looking. Elsa had to get up every so often to do some task related to the bonfire, but muttered sweet nothings into Anna's ear before leaving.

The night sped by, filled with cute whispers, playful giggles, and games of footsie. The clock finally struck twelve, and it was time for all non staff to leave. Anna tried to delay it as long as possible, but Kristoff finally dragged her away. As they headed to the car, she made an excuse that she forgot something, raced back to Elsa and, when no one was looking, kissed her goodnight.

She wiggled in her seat the entire ride home. Anna's head spun from when she sat down in the car to when they got back. Kristoff just shook his head, he gave up trying to understand Anna's moods. Anna skipped to bed, everything right where she wanted it, where she needed it. She changed, laid down, and flicked her phone awake.

She keyed in her text message to Elsa, 'Thanks for an amazing night! :) Can I see you tomorrow?'

The speed she responded made Anna think Elsa was waiting for her, 'I want to see you now, but I guess I can wait till tomorrow'

Anna smiled with anticipation and held back a swoon. 'Cant wait! Good night, Elsa! xoxo', Anna typed in, a huge grin stretched across her face.

'Good night, my beautiful girlfriend ;D', showed up on her screen. Totally overwhelmed, she planted her face in her pillow to muffle her excited scream. After an hour or so Anna finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Oh man everyone! Longest chapter I've written yet! Also, the one I'm most proud of! ****This chapter took a lot of time to get right, sorry about the wait.**

**The emotional wildfire that was Anna, while still not 100% under control, is moving in good directions. What happened between Kristoff and Hans while Elsa and Anna were coming together? What will Pabbie say about this? Will there be more fluff in the next chapter? All good things come to those who wait. **

**I like this story, but I'm starting to neglect 'As Cold As Ice', so I will try and have a few updates on that over the next two weeks to that.  
**

**Love you all :D /TAO/**


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